Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Michael Learned

Highest Rated: 74% Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)

Lowest Rated: 50% Power (1986)

Birthday: Apr 9, 1939

Birthplace: Washington, D.C., USA

Intelligent, sometimes with a stern aura, yet attractive, warm and inviting, Michael Learned was a stage actress virtually unknown to TV viewers when she was cast as Olivia Walton, mother of John-Boy and the others, in the long-running CBS series "The Waltons" (1972-81). Assuming the role that Patricia Neal had originated in a TV-movie special, Learned was so unknown that she was originally billed as "Miss Michael Learned" lest the audience be confused as to her gender and about which part she was playing. A mother of three by the time she was 24, Learned had honed her craft primarily at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, where she performed leading roles in such classics as "Under Milk Wood," "Tartuffe" and "Private Lives." Recently separated from her first husband actor Peter Donat when she was cast in "The Waltons," she remained with the series until 1980 (a year before it ended its run), when her character was sent away with tuberculosis. During her tenure on the series, Learned earned three Best Actress Emmy Awards (in 1973, 1974 and 1976) for her turn as the stalwart matriarch. The actress made several attempts to recapture her TV success with the medically themed "Nurse" (CBS, 1981-82), which earned her a fourth Emmy, and as a doctor working in a psychiatric clinic in the short-lived "Hothouse" (ABC, 1988). In 1989, she tried sitcoms as den mother for models on ABC's "Living Dolls," a spin-off from "Who's the Boss?," which also starred Halle Berry.

Show Less Show More

Highest-Rated Movies

74% 79% Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Watchlist
73% 65% Loggerheads
Watchlist
56% 12% The Alarmist
Watchlist
50% 44% Power
Watchlist
Little Mo
Watchlist
A Father for Brittany
Watchlist
16% Lethal Eviction
Watchlist
90% The Waltons' Crisis
Watchlist
Widow
Watchlist
Off the Minnesota Strip
Watchlist

Filmography

Movies TV Shows
Second Acts 2019 Lee Marston Actor An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong 59% 2009 Louise Hanlon Actor Lethal Eviction 16% 2005 Elsa Actor Loggerheads 73% 65% 2005 Sheridan Bellamy Actor A Father for Brittany 1998 Edna Humphreys Actor The Alarmist 56% 12% 1997 Beth Hudler Actor A Walton Easter 1997 Olivia Walton Actor A Walton Wedding 1995 Olivia Walton Actor A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion 1993 Olivia Walton Actor Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story 74% 79% 1993 Vivian Emery Actor Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Smart Story 31% 1991 Judy Smart Actor Aftermath: A Test of Love 88% 1991 Irene Actor Gunsmoke: The Last Apache 46% 1990 Mike Yardner Actor Roots: The Gift 78% 1988 Amelia Parker Actor Mercy or Murder? 1987 Skipper Actor Power 50% 44% 1986 Governor Andrea Stannard Actor A Deadly Business 1986 Ann Actor All My Sons 1986 Kate Keller Actor The Parade 1984 Rachel Kirby Actor Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain 1982 Olivia Walton Actor A Christmas Without Snow 40% 1980 Zoe Jensen Actor Off the Minnesota Strip 1980 Hughlene Johansen Actor Touched by Love 81% 1980 Dr. Bell Actor Nurse 1980 Mary Benjamin Actor Little Mo 1978 Eleanor Tennant Actor
Load More